Funny how one of the girls interacting with her do-it-all phone in the background is wearing an iPod shuffle around her neck.

LOL, yep, I noticed it too. The stupid thing is, everyone's talking about it, the iPhone may not be destined to rule the cell phone industry, but for an unreleased product it's getting too much attention, I wish they would just shut up sometimes.

And watch out, because the anti-Apple gangs will soon be wandering your hometown, stealing your iPod's and iPhone's and burning them on crosses, tying your Mac's to cement weights and throwing them in the river, be warned...

__________________"It seems that perfection is reached not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."

(1) We were ahead early on (compared to most but not all countries) and so installed early-gen hardware which now must be replaced.

(2) The U.S. is vast and, in many areas, requires a lot of infrastructure to provide coverage due to hills, buildings, etc., so it's enormously expensive to upgrade equipment.

(3) There are competing technologies here (CDMA vs GSM, etc.) that make such change even more difficult.

(4) The culture here is not pushing for innovation.

Interesting. I'm not so sure about 2) though. Buildings, hills etc. also exist elsewhere. And yes it's a vast land, but it also has a lot more people than other countries. More ppl = more customers = more money made and available to invest. Also no one expects complete coverage with the latest technology at those vast corn fields and national parks in the middle of nowhere. But the reality is that even in densly populated areas (I live near San Francisco), we don't have anything like the cell-phone video chat I've seen in Europe or the pay-by-phone I saw in that video.

I think 3) is more spot on, but 4)? We do push innovation in pretty much everything else, or not? Maybe I'm shaded living in the Silicon Valley tech cloud...

Interesting. I'm not so sure about 2) though. Buildings, hills etc. also exist elsewhere. And yes it's a vast land, but it also has a lot more people than other countries. More ppl = more customers = more money made and available to invest. Also no one expects complete coverage with the latest technology at those vast corn fields and national parks in the middle of nowhere. But the reality is that even in densly populated areas (I live near San Francisco), we don't have anything like the cell-phone video chat I've seen in Europe or the pay-by-phone I saw in that video.

I think 3) is more spot on, but 4)? We do push innovation in pretty much everything else, or not? Maybe I'm shaded living in the Silicon Valley tech cloud...

Not really true though. Japan, for instance, has a population half that of the United States packed into a livable land area (e.g. the area not occupied by mountains too steep to populate) about the size of the state of California. Their overall population density is 873 people per square mile. The U.S's overall population density is 1/10th of that. And carriers tend not to want to roll out new features only available in major cities, for whatever reason. I also think U.S. citizens are, overall, less quick to adapt to new technologies than our brethren abroad.

Well this video does make a legit point... in Asia. The fact that can you pay for things with your phone is pretty sweet. But here in the USA, the iPhone will be the next big thing. We're just behind the times when compared to Japan.

I don't think I like the idea of pay by phone. Need's some extra security added to it. I don't want my bank account empty if I lose my cell phone....

I've seen this in Germany too. The phones there are not linked to your bank account, it's a pre-paid thing. You "charge" the phone with a certain amount of money, then you can spend until it's gone. If you lose your phone, it's like losing your wallet with money inside.

Well this video does make a legit point... in Asia. The fact that can you pay for things with your phone is pretty sweet. But here in the USA, the iPhone will be the next big thing. We're just behind the times when compared to Japan.

Hmm, are you sure that pay by phone isn't available in the USA? It's available almost everywhere as far as I know, even down here in New Zealand... you park your car then walk up to the parking ticket machine, bang in some numbers on your mobile phone and tada! - you've paid for your park.

I don't even think "contactless" (RFID) credit cards have really gained much attention. I certainly don't want one until I know the technology is more secure.

For sure, the iPhone is geared more for the US market. Japan, Korea, and the like have a very different and advanced phone market that the iPhone will have a harder time in. If it succeeds it will probably be because of style/fashion.

We really need to get better 3G over here, especially on the GSM networks (EDGE is crud).

For sure, the iPhone is geared more for the US market. Japan, Korea, and the like have a very different and advanced phone market that the iPhone will have a harder time in. If it succeeds it will probably be because of style/fashion.

We really need to get better 3G over here, especially on the GSM networks (EDGE is crud).

Having just been to the UK, Japan and of course, OZ, it is interesting to see how some people use their phones-- I was amused by it-- lots of intense looks on frowning faces, half smiles, and members in groups, online doing independent stuff and then getting their friends to see what they had on the screens. Amusing- BUT--- far from being productive it was like watching kids opening Christmas presents with all the excitement about that event.

This was more typical in Japan than OZ and the UK, where the phone was more an intense solitary endeavour in a pub, on the train etc-- again, amusing but this scene is not part of the US culture-- that is to be so isolated in groups, happily doing your own thing in the company of others. It didn't used to be in OZ or the UK either, so there has been a change. Iasked a colleague about it and it seems texting is cheap and talking is expensive, so the "need" to text. But I hope we never get to look like this in the States. Silent, alone, slathring over a phone, fingers flying (yes even to having competitions to see how fast one can type!!! Good bl@@dy grief!!!)

I assume the US will eventually get on par with the things that people need in a phone compared to the "advanced' Asian market--- but leave off the fluff that creates all the social isolation when you are in public with "colleagues." Most of us still prefer to get our info when we are ready to sit in peace, not on the fly, running down the street or being jostled in trains. There are those that do, so we have rules about not using these devices in socially unacceptable places- barriers that have come down in many other places in the world, sadly. It is vile to have voice-raised jabbering in a restaurant for example.

Now, perhaps I am too old to "get" it-- I happily admit that may be so, but I felt sort of sad watching many of these "kids." Whatever happened to social intercourse in these countries? Surely, texting constantly is an anti-social behaviour !!!

And for ANYONE to think that Apple is unaware of the "Asian" needs or any of the faults so readily pointed out about this newcomer phone, then that person has no idea how Apple works and evolves its products-- and there are still lots of people who have yet to know Apple products apart form an iPod. This phone is but a germinal seed in what will be an explosion of Apple technology that will be evolutionary, revolutionary, lambasted and copied.

We don't need to worry about Asia's needs or anyone elses right now. They love their stuff, don't buy Apple gear much anyway and the one market that does do so, needs to have its needs met well, then to move on. Japan may love Sony and Korea, SamSung--- but they sure don't pop my buttons for the most part as their products rarely meet my needs as unique product, unlike Apple's.

We don't need to worry about Asia's needs or anyone elses right now. They love their stuff, don't buy Apple gear much anyway ...

Not quite. Apple is rather successful in Japan, as a country it is the single largest foreign market for Apple, so important that Japan is the only country that has it's own chapter in Apple's annual report (pg. 58). They alone bought 1.2 billion dollars worth of Apple gear in 2006 - and that's only Japan, not all of Asia.

To say we don't need to worry about them when developing new products would be very shortsighted.

To say we don't need to worry about them when developing new products would be very shortsighted.

Well, Apple is actually concerend about Asian sales, and specifically mentioned Japan. Koreans are non-starters. So, it is not shortighted to ignore these markets- FOR NOW- and make sure this phone is a huge hit in the US. Just like the iPod, the success of which in the US rang the death knell for the other crap out there, so too will making the iPhone the gold standard in the US. THEN, deal with the Asian "have-to-have-it" mentality. It will make it so much easier.